Building a website cost-effectively is easier today than it’s been in the past. With the help of online tools that help you make gorgeous, functional websites that speak to your audience, you can have a site up in a month or less. But, do you have all the elements you need to make the most of your website? Are you squeezing all the value you can out of it? Here are some tips to make sure you’re driving maximum website engagement.
Develop a content strategy
Your website, once it’s built [LINK], is a living organism designed to constantly engage and convert. Entice customers and prospects back to your site with regularly updated content. And make that content educational, informative, valuable to your audience. Whether you have a regular blog, change up your special offerings frequently, or you want to develop long-form content, you should make your updates at least once monthly.
Make a 6-month content strategy to start. This should include the purpose of your content, and how you’re going to carry out that purpose. Use this to drive the content that goes up on your site. What do your customers want to know? Tell them.
Capture emails
If you have a website, you should have a place to collect email addresses from visitors who want to see more of your content. This is collected through an opt-in form on your site. If visitors can simply type their email address into a field located in a prominent place (or places) throughout your site, you can start to build an email list. The email capture form should be as brief as possible (just ask for their email; ask for more later), and it should be highly visible and appear frequently on the site.
It can also offer your visitors something in return for leaving their email address. That could be a discount on their first purchase or appointment, or it could be a free e-book or other content you’ve developed. Giving your visitors something makes it more likely that they will sign up, so don’t underestimate the power of this rule of thumb. The email capture can link right to your email marketing service so your email list is automatically generated.
Use Google for Work
Now that you have a website set up, hosted, and designed, you need a way to track visitors to your site. You also need a professional email address that matches your domain. You may also want to start running ads.
Luckily, services like Google for Work help make all this seamless and tie it all to one Google login. With Google Analytics, you can keep track of how many visitors your site gets, what they are like, where they’re coming from, and what they’re doing while they’re there. With Gmail, you can set up an email address that is linked to your domain name to stay consistent with the new site. With Google Adwords, you can develop and run online ad campaigns through Google. All this is available through one Google login—and it’s seamless and easy to access.
These are just some of the ways you can maximize your website’s performance. For more information and tips, contact us. We specialize in helping you get the most out of your online presence.
Just getting started? How to Build a Cost-Effective Website